Hwadam Forest In Gwangju City Makes For A Quiet Autumn Destination In South Korea This Month And November

The fall season begins in South Korea and Hwadam Forest in Gwangju City is offering a scenic sanctuary where visitors can watch the color-changing leaves in a less crowded environment.

Also called Hwadamsup and opened in 2010, the arboretum inside the Konjiam Resort is located far from the nation's busy and crowded popular fall destinations.

According to the Korea JoongAng Daily on Saturday, the LG Foundation have designed Hwadam Forest as a preservation sanctuary for many trees and plants species. This explains why the arboretum is not commonly visited by tourists as a fall destination.

The forest is home to 4,300 kinds of plants and over 10 percent of which are maple trees that come in 480 different species. These maple trees display various colors and are a sight to behold during South Korea's autumn season, which falls between October and November.

Tourists may also expect to see the country's tallest maple tree standing approximately 39 feet tall and estimated to be around 200 years old.

Hwadam Forest isn't only recognizable for its Maple trees during the autumn season.

Korea JoongAng Daily also noted on May 16 that the 1.35 million square-meter arboretum is also known for its pink royal azaleas that elegantly bloom in May.

Tourists may walk across the Bridge of Promise and be greeted by over 70,000 royal azaleas with 210 species. Various wildflowers are also present in the botanical garden as well as a newly built hiking course from the top.

The Hwadam Forest at Konjiam Resort may also be reached through a ski lift near E/W Village ski slope in the forest of Bal-I Peak.

Admission at Konjiam Resort's Hwadam Forest is at 6,000 won for children and 9,000 won for adults, with an additional 3,000 and 4,000 won for children and adults respectively if they want to avail of the monorail.